Runaway
by Mr.Zeze
Summary: Tyler decides to run away after not being able to cope in the Dumping Ground. He finds himself lost in the woods. Sapphire and jade are in their house when a power cut happens.


**I made this story on the 28th of January 2012.**

Tyler had made his plan. He would go to school as normal. At 3:20pm he would take the bus to a place he had never been so he can finally leave the Dumping Ground. He had been thrown around 4 different care homes, and Burnywood had been the worst. Now it was his time to leave.

* * *

Sapphire was at her house, talking to Tracy Beaker on the phone. "I'm going to stay at a friend's house for two days, so don't come knocking on my door because I won't be at home."

Tracy asked, "Where is this house?"

Sapphire said "Somewhere near Highgate. I don't know the full address." She hanged up and there was a knock on the door. Sapphire opened it and it was her friend Jade. "Ready to go?" she asked Sapphire. "Yeah," she replied.

After school, Tyler turned right instead of heading to the bus stop around the corner. "Where are you going?" asked Carmen. Tyler answered, "I'm just going to the newsagents over there." He pointed and then sped off to the bus stop for routes out of town. He waited for any bus to appear and raced on it, dragging his bag of belongings. He was never going back to the Dumping Ground, now that he was on this bus out of there.

* * *

Sapphire was at Jade's house in Highgate. "So what's it like? Leaving the care home?" inquired Jade. Sapphire took of her coat and hung it up on the rack in the lounge. "It's quite normal I guess. So what are we going to do tonight? Jade replied, "I was thinking that we might have a pizza party and watch TV and watch TV. None of my other friends are coming around. My parents are out and they aren't going to be back until Sunday night."

They watched TV and ordered pizzas until the kitchen table was full of them. Jade said, "Let's watch Space Slasher VI tonight. It's a cool movie about these green aliens."

"Erm OK," said Sapphire, who didn't mention that she'd already watched Space Slasher VI and she found it terrible. "It's starting!" announced Jade. As soon as the movie was about to begin, the TV and the lights turned off.

"What—!" shouted Jade. "I think there's a power cut," said Sapphire. "NO! I was really looking forward to watching Space Slasher."

Sapphire tried to hide her relief. "Oh... well is there anything else to do?" The room was almost pitch-black, so Sapphire took out her phone to illuminate the view. "I've got an idea," said Jade. "We could take a trip outside to Highgate Woods." "At this time of night?"

"Relax; it's only nearly 7PM. And it's almost summer so it shouldn't be that dark outside."

"Should we take these?" Sapphire asked, pointing at the pizzas.

"Yeah."

* * *

"Last stop!" the driver called. Tyler got up. He hadn't eaten since lunch time, so he thought that he must find a shop. He exited the bus and checked the time. It was half past six. There was a little corner shop called "Karib's". He went there and he saw that he was the only customer. The owner of the shop was a tall lady with practically no eyebrows. Tyler noticed that she was following him wherever he went. At the end, he got some crisps and a drink, paid with a five-pound note and left.

He was thinking of a place where to have his snacks and he found a bench. He started to eat until some strange people started to approach him. He ran off and didn't stop until he found a gate. The gate led to inside a forest. He went inside. "I should have planned where I wanted to go," he said to himself.

* * *

Mike said to everyone at the dinner table, "Alright everyone. Where is Tyler?" Everyone except for Carmen said that they did not know. Mike said, "None of you have heard anything about where he was going?" Everyone shook their heads. Mike said quietly to Gina, "If he doesn't show up in half an hour, we're going to have to call the police." Carmen did not want to say anything because she didn't want to be a snitch. But what if Tyler was in any kind of trouble? And anyway, she wasn't one to keep any secrets from people.

"Um... Mike," she spoke up. "After school, I noticed that Tyler wasn't going to our bus stop. He said that he wasn't going to some newsagent." Mike said, "Did you see where he went?" Carmen said, "He went to the right, to the place where the other bus stop is."

* * *

Sapphire and Jade were out and making their way to the Highgate Woods. "I haven't been out this late since last year," remarked Jade. "Don't worry, it'll be fun there. We can just walk around."

"When are you going to get your electricity sorted?" asked Sapphire. "I don't need to worry about that. When I get a power cut, the electricity usually comes back after a few hours."

Tyler was lost in the forest. He did not know where to go but he did not want to return to the Dumping Ground. But it was so cold and quiet out here and he didn't even have a coat. He decided to call someone. Whipping out his phone, he looked at his list of contacts. Liam, Rick, Carmen? He chose not to, in case she snitched on him. He replaced his phone into his blazer pocket and walked through the woods.

Tracy Beaker turned to Carmen. "So you don't know where he went? He didn't say anything at school?"

"I didn't see him much at school. And no, I don't know where he went." Tracy sighed. "We'll have to call someone if he doesn't show up.

* * *

Tyler stopped in his tracks. There was something moving in the bushed. He expected it to be someone, but he saw that it was just a fox. It was now getting really dark and he desperately wanted to go back. But what about all the trouble he'd be in? Tyler heard something from behind him. This time it was a person – a silhouetted figure a few metres back. He wanted to get out of here now. He took off, and landed in a place with an abandoned swing. He got out his phone because he knew who to call now.

"Hello would you like to speak to someone?" went the phone.

"Yes, can you be quick?"

"I'm going to transfer this call to a counsellor. If you are in danger, hang up and call 999."

...

"Hello, this is Paula from Childline." Tyler said, "Hi, I just ran away from my care home after school today and I'm lost."

"Can you tell me where you are now?"

"I don't know. I just took a bus to any stop and I found these woods. I don't know where I am."

"It sounds a bit quiet out there. Is there anyone else there?"

"No. There's no one here. I'm trying to find my way out of the woods. Hold on, I see two girls in front of me. Let me see if they know the way." Tyler didn't hang up, but he approached the two girls.

"Excuse me, do you know the way out of here?" he asked them.

"Tyler?" said one of them with curly hair.

"You know him?" said the other one.

"Sapphire, is that you?"

"Tyler, what are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"I ran away. I'm trying to get back to the Dump—Elm Tree house."

Jade said, "Aw, don't worry, we'll show you out of here. Come on Saff, he can come to my house to wait until the care workers show up."

Tyler put the phone to his ear. "No, I'm fine. They're going to show me the way out."

"Who are you talking to?" asked Sapphire.

"It's Childline. I was just telling that that I ran away."

"He spoke into the phone. "OK, I'm going to end the call. I've decided to go back."

In Jade's house, the electricity was now working. "Do you want to watch the last half hour of Space Slasher VI?" Jade offered Tyler.

"No thanks," he said. A van pulled up in front of the house.

"That must be them," said Sapphire.

The three left the house and saw Mike emerging from the vehicle.

"Hi, I'm Jade." She announced to Mike. "We found him in the woods. Scared stiff, he was."

"It's OK," said Mike. "Tyler, we're going back to Elm Tree. Sapphire thanks for calling us as soon as you found him. It saved us from calling the police."

"Anytime," she replied and, with Jade, she re-entered the house.

* * *

Tyler was in his room and he called Childline again. "Hi can I speak to Paula?"

"I'm sorry but we can't actually transfer a call to a specific person. But you can still talk to me."

"OK. Well I just called before because I ran away from my care home. I'm OK now; I just called to say that I'm safe now." He continued the conversation for longer, explaining the situation that he was sick and tired of living in care homes. He added that he wouldn't be running away again.

"I'm going to have to hang up now. My head care worker Mike wants to talk to me about today. I don't think I'm in trouble."

He hung up and made his way to the office, where Mike would be waiting for him.


End file.
